“Starting Out Contracting” – downloadable guide for new Contractors
There's nothing we like more than seeing more people start contracting, and to that end we've produced a downloadable guide.
National Insurance Holidays scheme attracts ministerial ire
As part of their ongoing attempts to coax the UK's wavering economy back to life, in 2010 the Government introduced a scheme called National Insurance Holidays. This tax relief system allows first-time employers to forego employer National Insurance Contributions for their first ten employees up to a maximum value of £5,000 per employee.
Project Merlin banks claim to be on target for lending figures
British banks have announced that they are on target to meet lending figures that were set out by the government in Project Merlin. However, small business leaders have disputed the announcement claiming that loans are becoming harder to find and much more expensive.
Contractors and SMEs welcome EU-wide sales law
Contractors and small business have welcomed the news that the EU is proposing an optional EU-wide sales law after results from a survey carried out by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has shown that 43% of small firms use the internet to trade across the border but that legal obligations and sales disputes are...
Government to contribute £95m to small businesses via banks
David Cameron has set out plans to contribute an extra £95m to help contractors and SMEs. The money will come from the Regional Growth Fund and will be filtered out through RBS NatWest and HSBC, leading to the potential unlocking of £500m.
Health and safety laws to be overhauled
As the government plans to cut health and safety laws, business groups anticipate that small businesses will benefit from significant savings as a result.
Late payments to small businesses worse than ever
According to research carried out by payment body Bacs, UK small businesses are owed £33.6 billion in overdue payments, a 10% increase on this time last year and an overall record. The survey, which was carried out on 450 businesses, found that the average amount owed is approximately £39,000 and that firms were being forced...
Osborne announces credit-easing programme for small businesses
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, last week announced a credit-easing programme for small businesses and ruled out much sought-after tax cuts during his speech to the Conservative Party Conference.
Four times increase in rejected SME loans since 2007
New figures released by Eurostat last week have painted a bleak picture of the state of small business financing in the UK. The figures (PDF link) show that between 2007 and 2010 as the recession began to bite, the number of failed SME loan applications quadrupled from 5.6% of all applications to 20.8%.
The Agency Workers Regulations – are you prepared?
The Agency Workers Regulations officially came into force in the UK, Wales and Scotland on October 1st. Although the regulations are designed to protect vulnerable and low-paid temporary workers, many contractors are affected by the new rules if they operate through an umbrella company.
HMRC’s next tax target: private tutors
HMRC has been running numerous schemes over the last few months to narrow what it calls the 'tax gap' - the gulf between the actual amount of tax paid by UK citizens and corporations and the actual amount owed. Last year the tax gap stood at a not-insignificant £39 billion.
Free Limited Company formation with GoLimited.co
Forming a Limited Company can be a shrewd move for the budding contractor. Not only can it give your business an added sheen of professionalism, it can pay dividends (quite literally) in terms of better tax efficiency, meaning you get to take home more of the money you earn, with less being syphoned off by...
Demand for contractors set to soar as unemployment figures rise
The Office for National Statistics has recently published figures which show that 80,000 more people were made unemployed in the three month period before July 2011, taking the total number of jobless to a shocking 2.51 million.
